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Publications

Most papers in this volume are a result from the Research Workshop "Rising non-tariff protectionism and crisis recovery" which was held on 14 and 15 December 2009 as part of the Macao Regional Knowledge Hub (MARKHUB) workshop series and was organized by the secretariats of ESCAP, UNCTAD and WTO. MARKHUB research workshops were the main modality of the Macao Regional Knowledge Hub project funded by the Government of Macao, China and implemented by the Trade and Investment Division of ESCAP from 2006 to 2010.

This paper discusses the potential for cross-South Pacific trade between selected Southeast Asian and Latin American economies. The objective of this discussion is to identify obstacles for more intensive trade between the observed countries. Firstly, the paper reviews trends in trade flows and trade patterns between the selected economies, and by using several trade performance indicators it finds the level of trade still relatively low. It then discusses the possible reasons for this state of affairs.

2010 has seen an impressive recovery of the Asia-Pacific region from the Great Recession of 2008/09. Led by the large economies of China and India, output growth in the region rebounded in 2009 and gathered further strength in 2010. But the region is faced with a weakening of growth in the developed economies which are grappling with a combination of weak household demand and fiscal retrenchment.

The region needs to invest in an efficient system of regional infrastructure for a seamless Asia to emerge. This will provide the foundation for Asian common markets and facilitate the creation of an eventual pan-Asian community. None of this will be easy, but it will have to be done by building institutions, harmonizing policies and regulations, developing and aligning standards, and, most crucially, attracting the required capital to the right kinds of regional projects.

Since its first meeting in December 1999 in Berlin, the Group of 20 or G20 has come a long way to establish its relevance, credibility and emerge as a premier council for global economic cooperation. Initially set up as a group of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of systemically important countries, it proved to be very effective forum for discussing and implementing a globally coordinated response to the global financial and economic crisis since November 2008 when it met for the first time at the Summit level in Washington, DC.

Global macroeconomic imbalances are among the key issues facing policymakers, especially in the US and China which are the two major affected / contributing parties. While there has been a great deal of discussion and disagreement on this important issue, what all sides have in common is the general failure to adequately pay attention to the role of the exchange rate in allocating resources internally between tradables and nontradables. These sectoral changes can have both real and macroeconomic consequences.

Asia and the Pacific, despite visible signs of prosperity due to years of rapid economic growth, has made insufficient progress in freeing its population from hunger and malnutrition, the most basic marker of true development. Given the importance of reducing poverty and hunger as core development priorities, the international community has placed these as the first Millennium Development Goal

Cross-border movements of people within East and South-East Asia have risen with rapidity, much of them driven by the prospect for gainful employment. Although there has been a growing number of articles and publications on international migration in countries in East and South-East Asia, these often focus on selected issues of migration. The present report provides a comprehensive overview of migration in East and South-East Asia and country reports that provide a concise analysis of the key national issues and how they are linked to other countries in the region.